European parliamentarians visit Baku to restore ties

Relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union were on the agenda of talks in Baku on September 20, as a delegation of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee paid a visit to the country.

Relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union were on the agenda of talks in Baku on September 20, as a delegation of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee paid a visit to the country.

At first, the European delegation was received by President Ilham Aliyev, who expressed his hope that the visit of the delegation will be a good opportunity for them to get detailed information about Azerbaijan, the country`s realities and plans.

"I believe that the discussion forthcoming today, as well as the subsequent discussions with your colleagues, will bring more clarity to the further development of our cooperation," the head of state said.

Emphasizing a regression in the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Parliament, the president further emphasized that the meeting will probably be a good opportunity to clarify many issues.

President Aliyev criticized the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on Azerbaijan a year ago, stressing that this caused a serious regression in relations and it will be difficult to move forward and plan future activities without clarifying this matter.

“This came out as a surprise,” said the head of state. “We, in Azerbaijan, consider this as a step based on a very hostile, inaccurate, false information and bias and as an attempt to harm our country’s reputation.”

The president said some members of the European Parliament have warned the organization not to adopt the document.

“I heard one of them saying, ‘We will lose Azerbaijan.’ Maybe that is so. A commissioner of the European Commission spoke as well, made warnings, but they weren’t heard. And what happened as a result? There are no ties, no contact,” he added.

Ilham Aliyev went on to add that Azerbaijan didn’t create a working group in its parliament. “We discontinued our activity in the Euronest. This is the situation. We can’t act as if nothing has happened. We have to clarify this. We have to look at what we can do to address this. What can we talk about if this remains the same, if nothing happens?” said the president.

President Aliyev said, for instance, the resolution states that Azerbaijan aims to build a strategic partnership and is trying to expand and deepen ties with the European Union.

"Not only us, but also the European Union is seeking to deepen relations with us. Therefore, I believe that this text does not reflect the true nature of our cooperation. Our cooperation with the European Union is based on mutual interests and mutual respect. In fact, in general, we have very good relations with the European Union. We have signed a declaration on strategic partnership with nine member-countries of the European Union. Therefore, there is a big difference between our relations with the European Union, member-states and the European Parliament," President Aliyev stressed.

On the same day, the 13th meeting of the European Union (EU)-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Committee (PCC) was held in the capital city.

The European Parliament (EP) delegation chaired by the co-chair of EU-Azerbaijan PCC and head of the EP delegation Sajjad Karim (ECR, UK) included Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, FIN, co-president of EURONEST PA), Ramona Manescu (EPP, RO), Alberto Cirio (EPP, IT), Andrejs Mamikins (S&D, LV) and Iveta Grigule (ALDE, LV).

During the meetings held at the Azerbaijani Parliament, Samad Seyidov, Chairman of the committee on international and interparliamentary relations stressed the commitment of Azerbaijan to pursue cooperation with the EU.

Sajjad Karim, for his part, highlighted that the EU considered its relationship with Azerbaijan as a very important and mutually beneficial one.

“There is substantial potential to deepen and strengthen the bilateral relationship,” he added. “It is essential that the EU-Azerbaijan relationship, which has many aspects, is structured to deliver constructive progress for the people of the European Union and Azerbaijan on an equal basis.”

At the meeting with Speaker of Azerbaijan's Parliament Ogtay Asadov a day later, Sajjad Karim stressed that the European Union is keen on establishing excellent relations with Azerbaijan.

“That's why in order to advance, without going back to those in the past, we must conduct sincere dialogues and look forward to the future with hope. There are common values that unite both Azerbaijani and European peoples. Azerbaijan is an important country for Europe and we are keen on establishing excellent relations with this country," Sajjad Karim said.

Hailing the importance of the visit, Asadov noted that it would contribute to restoring relations between Azerbaijan’s parliament and the European Parliament, which suffered a major setback a year ago.

He said the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee is the only platform for cooperation on the bilateral basis at the level of legislative bodies. He underlined the Azerbaijani Parliament's interest in advancing ties with the EU in both bilateral and multilateral formats.

Deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Valeh Alasgarov, in turn, spoke of Azerbaijan-EU relations. Recalling the European Parliament's biased decisions against Azerbaijan, Alasgarov noted that this kind of behavior did not serve the interests of the peoples of Azerbaijan and Europe.

He said that double standards within certain organizations as well as among the members of the European Parliament towards the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict also did not contribute to regional development and peace.

Member of the European Parliament Iveta Grigule, for her part, hailed Europe's interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan and apologized on behalf of the group, which she represented for the European Parliament's biased resolutions on Azerbaijan.

She expressed her hope that cases of such kind would not be repeated in the coming years. “The interests of both sides require this,” she added.

As part of the visit, the EP delegation also had meetings with economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev.